The Deputy President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, led a high-level South African Government and trade delegation to consolidate bilateral political, economic and trade relations with Iran, on Monday, 9 November 2015.

The visit was supported by Minister Nomvula Mokonyane of Water and Sanitation, Deputy Ministers Nomaindia Mfeketo of International Relations and Cooperation, Godfrey Oliphant of Mineral Resources, Mcebisi Jonas of Finance, Bheki Cele of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Tokozile Xasa of Tourism, as well as senior government officials.

Water Research Commission (WRC) CEO, Dhesigen Naidoo, was amongst the officials supporting the Deputy President. Representatives of state-owned companies such as Eskom and Mintek, as well as the Council for Geoscience, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the South African Revenue Service, and over 80 business leaders also formed part of the visit.

The visit resulted in the signing of three agreements by Deputy President Ramaphosa and Iran's First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri: firstly, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Mintek (South Africa), IMIDRO and Iran IMIDRO and Iran Mineral Processing Research Centre (IMPRC) focusing on mineral processing; secondly, a MoU between the Financial Intelligence Centre of South Africa and Financial Intelligence Unit of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on information exchange concerning money laundering and terrorism financing; and, lastly, a MoU between the Financial Services Board of South Africa and Securities and Exchange Organisation of Iran in relation to assistance and mutual co-operation in the capital markets sector.

In his remarks, the Deputy President said, “It provides a new opportunity for South Africa and Iran not only to return our bilateral trade to its former state, but to significantly increase the volume and broaden the extent of our economic engagements”.

Deputy President Ramaphosa also presided over the launch of the SA–Iran Business Council, wherein he noted the success of companies doing business in Iran and the enormous capacity developed by the Iranians in areas such as petrochemicals, oil and gas, and agriculture, and on developing sources of energy such as wind and gas.

The Deputy President expressed South Africa’s gratitude to the Iranian Government for the stances it has taken on various regional cooperation issues and ongoing support for transformation of the United Nations Security Council.